President Obama took a very positive step when he nominated Cheryl LaFleur to be a Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Ms. LaFleur played a key role in developing the energy efficiency programs that have become a model for the nation during her time at National Grid USA (formerly the New England Electric System).  She was also instrumental in the critical decision by her company to support the landmark Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and to champion an auction of the pollution “allowances” instead of giving them to polluters for free and re-invest the proceeds in customer friendly efforts like energy efficiency.

As a career utility executive Ms. LaFleur knows the companies that FERC regulates and the people who run them but as a tough, smart and fair-minded independent thinker with solid values about protecting the environment and the people she is well positioned to be the right person to regulate those companies.

And maintaining a little geographic and gender diversity on a body like FERC that has been traditionally Western and male is not such  a bad thing . . .

Hopefully, the partisan gridlock in Washington will not hold up her confirmation by the Senate.

The current crumbling fleet of nuclear power plants demonstrate how the current version of nuclear power is not a sane and safe climate solution.  No facility shows this more clearly than the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

Responding to CLF’s requests, the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) issued an order opening an investigation into whether Vermont Yankee should be shut down immediately, in light of continuing radiation leaks at the facility. The investigation will also consider whether Entergy’s license to operate the plant should be revoked or any penalties should be imposed for violations of Vermont law. (See the Order at pg. 9). A prehearing conference is scheduled for March 10, 2010 at the Public Service Board in Montpelier.

This news follows Wednesday’s historic decision by the Vermont State Senate not to extend the plant’s license beyond 2012. As they reaffirmed on page 6 of the order the VT PSB has the authority to take action – including a shut down – when a nuclear power facility in its jurisdiction is improperly managed.

CLF Senior Attorney Sandra Levine said it best:  “Wednesday’s Senate vote was a positive step toward putting this aging facility out of its misery, but it did not address the immediate problem: Vermont Yankee is continuing to leak radiation with impunity. We commend the Public Service Board for stepping up to hold Vermont Yankee accountable for its actions. The plant is not being managed responsibly. It should be shut down.”

Our friend Mike Tidwell, the Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (and definitive climate policy blogger Joe Romm) directs attention to the thoughts of Jeff Masters, head meteorologist at Weather Underground on how the current spate of East Coast blizzards is the kind of phenomena that climate science tells us to expect as the globe warms:

A major new winter storm is headed east over the U.S. today, and threatens to dump a foot or more of snow on Philadelphia, New York City, and surrounding regions Tuesday and Wednesday. Philadelphia is still digging out from its second top-ten snowstorm of recorded history to hit the city this winter, and the streets are going to begin looking like canyons if this week’s snowstorm adds a significant amount of snow to the incredible 28.5″ that fell during “Snowmageddon” last Friday and Saturday. Philadelphia has had two snowstorms exceeding 23″ this winter. According to the National Climatic Data Center ^[9], the return period for a 22+ inch snow storm is once every 100 years-and we’ve had two 100-year snow storms in Philadelphia this winter. It is true that if the winter pattern of jet stream location, sea surface temperatures, etc, are suitable for a 100-year storm to form, that will increase the chances for a second such storm to occur that same year, and thus the odds have having two 100-year storms the same year are not 1 in 10,000. Still, the two huge snowstorms this winter in the Mid-Atlantic are definitely a very rare event one should see only once every few hundred years, and is something that has not occurred since modern records began in 1870. The situation is similar for Baltimore and Washington D.C. According to the National Climatic Data Center ^[10], the expected return period in the Washington D.C./Baltimore region for snowstorms with more than 16 inches of snow is about once every 25 years. This one-two punch of two major Nor’easters in one winter with 16+ inches of snow is unprecedented in the historical record for the region, which goes back to the late 1800s.

Heavy snow events–a contradiction to global warming theory?
Global warming skeptics regularly have a field day whenever a record snow storm pounds the U.S., claiming that such events are inconsistent with a globe that is warming. If the globe is warming, there should, on average, be fewer days when it snows, and thus fewer snow storms. However, it is possible that if climate change is simultaneously causing an increase in ratio of snowstorms with very heavy snow to storms with ordinary amounts of snow, we could actually see an increase in very heavy snowstorms in some portions of the world. There is evidence that this is happening for winter storms in the Northeast U.S.–the mighty Nor’easters like the “Snowmageddon” storm of February 5-6 and “Snowpocalypse” of December 19, 2009. Let’s take a look at the evidence. There are two requirements for a record snow storm:

1) A near-record amount of moisture in the air (or a very slow moving storm).
2) Temperatures cold enough for snow.

It’s not hard at all to get temperatures cold enough for snow in a world experiencing global warming. According to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the globe warmed 0.74°C (1.3°F) over the past 100 years. There will still be colder than average winters in a world that is experiencing warming, with plenty of opportunities for snow. The more difficult ingredient for producing a record snowstorm is the requirement of near-record levels of moisture. Global warming theory predicts that global precipitation will increase, and that heavy precipitation events–the ones most likely to cause flash flooding–will also increase. This occurs because as the climate warms, evaporation of moisture from the oceans increases, resulting in more water vapor in the air. According to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, water vapor in the global atmosphere has increased by about 5% over the 20th century, and 4% since 1970. This extra moisture in the air will tend to produce heavier snowstorms, assuming it is cold enough to snow. Groisman et al. (2004) found a 14% increase in heavy (top 5%) and 20% increase in very heavy (top 1%) precipitation events in the U.S. over the past 100 years, though mainly in spring and summer. However, the authors did find a significant increase in winter heavy precipitation events have occurred in the Northeast U.S. This was echoed by Changnon et al. (2006), who found, “The temporal distribution of snowstorms exhibited wide fluctuations during 1901-2000, with downward 100-yr trends in the lower Midwest, South, and West Coast. Upward trends occurred in the upper Midwest, East, and Northeast, and the national trend for 1901-2000 was upward, corresponding to trends in strong cyclonic activity.”

The strongest cold-season storms are likely to become stronger and more frequent for the U.S.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and was mandated by Congress in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606), which called for “a comprehensive and integrated United States research program which will assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change.” This program has put out some excellent peer-reviewed science on climate change that, in my view, is as authoritative as the U.N.-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. In 2009, the USGCRP put out its excellent U.S. Climate Impacts Report, summarizing the observed and forecast impacts of climate change on the U.S. The report’s main conclusion about cold season storms was “ Cold-season storm tracks are shifting northward and the strongest storms are likely to become stronger and more frequent”.

The report’s more detailed analysis: “Large-scale storm systems are the dominant weather phenomenon during the cold season in the United States. Although the analysis of these storms is complicated by a relatively short length of most observational records and by the highly variable nature of strong storms, some clear patterns have emerged (Kunkel et al., 2008).

Storm tracks have shifted northward over the last 50 years as evidenced by a decrease in the frequency of storms in mid-latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere, while high-latitude activity has increased. There is also evidence of an increase in the intensity of storms in both the mid- and high-latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere, with greater confidence in the increases occurring in high latitudes (Kunkel et al., 2008). The northward shift is projected to continue, and strong cold season storms are likely to become stronger and more frequent, with greater wind speeds and more extreme wave heights”. The study also noted that we should expect an increase in lake-effect snowstorms over the next few decades. Lake-effect snow is produced by the strong flow of cold air across large areas of relatively warmer ice-free water. The report says, “As the climate has warmed, ice coverage on the Great Lakes has fallen. The maximum seasonal coverage of Great Lakes ice decreased at a rate of 8.4 percent per decade from 1973 through 2008, amounting to a roughly 30 percent decrease in ice coverage. This has created conditions conducive to greater evaporation of moisture and thus heavier snowstorms. Among recent extreme lake-effect snow events was a February 2007 10-day storm total of over 10 feet of snow in western New York state. Climate models suggest that lake-effect snowfalls are likely to increase over the next few decades. In the longer term, lake-effect snows are likely to decrease as temperatures continue to rise, with the precipitation then falling as rain”.

Commentary
Of course, both climate change contrarians and climate change scientists agree that no single weather event can be blamed on climate change. However, one can “load the dice” in favor of events that used to be rare–or unheard of–if the climate is changing to a new state. It is quite possible that the dice have been loaded in favor of more intense Nor’easters for the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, thanks to the higher levels of moisture present in the air due to warmer global temperatures. It’s worth mentioning that heavy snow storms should be getting increasingly rare for the extreme southern portion of the U.S. in coming decades. There’s almost always high amounts of moisture available for a potential heavy snow in the South–just not enough cold air. With freezing temperatures expected to decrease and the jet stream and associated storm track expected to move northward, the extreme southern portion of the U.S. should see a reduction in both heavy and ordinary snow storms in the coming decades.

The summary at the top of this blog post sums it all up:

In 2009, Neil Young released Fork In The Road, an album which is dedicated to the Lincvolt project that transformed his classic Lincoln Continental into a hot zero emissions vehicle that gets 100 mpg. In this paean to the LincVolt project, Karen Barry also asks, if a 1959 vehicle can be green, what is stopping all current vehicles from achieving the same goal?

This is not the first time that Mr. Young has put himself out on the scene as an important environmental voice.  Back in the 1970′s on his classic album “On the Beach” he presented mankind as a vampire preying upon the earth in the song Vampire Blues.   A decade and a half later in his big hit “Rockin’ in the Free World” he sarcastically bragged about humanity having “Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer . . . fuel to burn and roads to drive”.

The explosion at a nearly-completed power plant under construction in Connecticut illustrates the direct dangers inherent in harnessing fuels like natural gas.  The accident occurred during the “purging” of the gas lines that were to provide the fuel for the plant – an activity of concern to some observers who believe it to be an unsafe practice, and even  has elicited investigation by the government regulators who oversee such plants.

The workers who lost their lives, or were injured, in the explosion, and their families, should be in the thoughts and prayers of all.

We should never forget that the power that we use to operate our homes, offices and wireless devices does not come free – and sometimes we pay that price with something more precious than mere money.  The implications and impacts of our flipping a switch and plugging in appliance are rarely visible but they are very real.

While the overarching environmental challenge of our time continues to be global warming we can’t loose sight of the need to confront the other air pollution that threatens the public health.  For those of us who fighting against dangerous pollution from coal fired power plants like Salem Harbor in Massachusetts this is not news – but the fact that a bi-partisan group of U.S. Senators (there is a phrase you don’t see much !!) have filed legislation to address this pollution is significant.   Exactly how good a bill is this?  We don’t know as they haven’t released the text and the devil (and god) are in the details.   But it is good to see our Senators paying attention to coal plant pollution !

Meanwhile, Tricia Jedele who runs CLF’s office in Rhode Island is helping to move ahead an effort to focus on the old school environmental value of waste reduction.  Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  And she points out that the U.S. EPA have produced a very convincing report on how this classic brand of environmental action is good for the climate – bringing us back to global warming again . . .

Update: News articles in Boston Globe, Salem News and Boston Business Journal about this announcement.

Puts Dominion Energy On Notice Of Clean Air Act Lawsuit

BOSTON, MA (January 27, 2010) In a continuing effort to bring the Salem Harbor Station coal-fired power plant into compliance with the federal Clean Air Act, Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) today announced that it intends to file a federal suit against Dominion Energy of New England for ongoing violations of smokestack emissions limits. The suit focuses on the emissions of particulate matter – small particles of chemicals, metals and ash which have been linked to severe health and environmental problems.

If successful, the suit would hold Dominion responsible for paying millions of dollars in penalties retroactively for violations of the smokestack emissions limits. The violations are documented in Dominion’s own quarterly reports of mandatory monitoring at the Salem Harbor Station power plant.

“These continuing violations show that Dominion Energy is indifferent to the hazards it is imposing on the residents of Salem and the neighboring communities,” said Shanna Cleveland, staff attorney for CLF. “Dominion Energy must be held accountable for abiding by the laws that are meant to protect our health and the environment. If it cannot meet those standards, then we have to ask why this dirty, obsolete coal-fired power plant should be allowed to continue to operate.”

For two decades, CLF, along with residents of Salem and neighboring communities, has fought to force Dominion, and before them the prior owners of the plant, to clean up or shut down Salem Harbor Station. The plant has a long history of violations related to its coal-burning operations, repeatedly exceeding legal limits on the discharge of known pollutants including, over time, mercury, coal ash and now, soot.

Recent studies have shown that even short-term exposure to soot has been linked to higher rates of hospitalization for heart and respiratory problems. Children and the elderly are the most vulnerable, experiencing health problems ranging from decreased lung function to premature death. Jane Bright, of the public health advocacy group Healthlink stated, “The soot that Dominion is pumping into our air has been proven to be damaging to the health of our community. It is outrageous that they have been routinely exceeding limits on these dangerous emissions, while leading us to believe otherwise.”

Residents throughout the North Shore feel the effects of Salem Harbor Station’s toxic plume. Lori Ehrlich, state representative for Marblehead, Swampscott and parts of Lynn stated, “I see that filthy plume heading right for my community and I want to tell everyone to hold their breath. Instead, we endure the daily assault of black soot that sticks to everything from our cars to our throats. The people of this region should not be forced to pay for the effects of Dominion’s negligence with their health, while Dominion continues to get off scot free.”

“Moving beyond coal is vital to fighting climate change and creating a green economy in Salem and throughout the Commonwealth,” said Jeff Barz-Snell of the community group SAFE (Salem Alliance for the Environment). “The time has come for Dominion to invest in cleaning up Salem Harbor Station, or make way for clean energy solutions like energy efficiency, solar and wind.”

Lisa Abbate, with the Salem citizen’s group A Vision for Salem, is advocating for a clean alternative for the Salem Harbor Station site. “Salem Harbor Station takes much more away from our communities than it gives. We need to take bold steps to shut the plant down and move swiftly toward the cleaner future we all envision for Salem and the surrounding region – for our health, for our environment and for our economy.

NOTE: Photos of Salem Harbor Station’s plume are available on Flickr.

The bad news: Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski introduced a resolution designed to tamper with the science driven regulatory process of Greenhouse gas emissions by the U.S.E.P.A.

The good news: The two Republican Senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, courageously refused to follow their party line and did not sign on to the resolution.

“Maine should be proud to have two senators with the courage to do the right thing for Maine and the country when it comes to critical environmental issues,” said Sean Mahoney, director of the Conservation Law Foundation’s Maine Advocacy Center.  ”Unlike Senator Gregg of New Hampshire and his Republican cohort of climate change deniers, Senator Snowe and Senator Collins withstood the pressure of party politics and did not join in this attack on the authority of the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide as an air pollutant. This country needs to address the harmful impacts of carbon dioxide emissions and, in the absence of new federal climate legislation, it is vital that the EPA retain that authority under the existing Clean Air Act.”

UPDATE: Sadly, when push came to shove on the Senate floor both Senators Snowe and Collins voted against science and climate protection and in favor of the Murkowski resolution.

The authors of the book The Rising Sea summarizes their conclusion that prudent planning for waterfront communities assumes a sea level rise of seven feet in a post on the Yale environment 360 website.

Chilling stuff, especially for those of us who remember when early iterations of this work nearly ten years ago labeled New Orleans as the American community most vulnerable to sea level rise and catastrophic storms.

They identify Florida as the most vulnerable place in the United States to sea level rise and aggressively argue that building new high rise developments on the waterfront is a big mistake.